3 Chapter 3 Night of carnage
As they ran through the business district, Arthur and Leonard could clearly hear the terrified screams of the people behind them, and yet they didn't dare to stop even for a moment as they kept running with all their strength.
They knew that those screams came from the people that hadn't managed to leave the bus station in time and were caught by those terrifying monsters.
Of course, their screams only lasted for a few seconds before silence descended on the business district soon after.
''What the hell are these monsters?''
As Arthur and Leonard kept running through the business district, Leonard finally asked in a voice that couldn't hide the fear and disbelief he felt.
Arthur's face wasn't any better than his, as both of them had clearly seen the scenes where the policemen had been beheaded by the bloodthirsty, gigantic purple creatures just a few moments ago before the bus station was plunged into chaos.
''It doesn't matter what they are, just keep running!''
Leonard nodded without saying anything else, as the 2 of them kept running at full speed through the deserted business district, while most of the shop owners had already left their shops and had locked themselves inside their homes in a hurry.
Occasionally, a black dot would appear from the sky and land in one of the nearby buildings around Arthur and Leonard, completely destroying it after landing on the roof or the walls of the building.
The cries of the people inside the building and the cruel laughter of the purple monsters would resound loudly for a few moments, but they would quickly be silenced soon after.
Both Arthur and Leonard could guess what was going on even without seeing those scenes by themselves, but neither of them could do anything except run.
Since even the bullets of the policemen had failed to harm those monsters, they could both guess that whoever was unlucky enough to be targetted by those creatures, would definitely die without any ability to resist.
There was only a single thought in Arthur's mind that made him completely ignore what was going on around him and focus on running forward.
''Grandpa! Please be safe! I am coming back right now!''
As the image of his caring grandfather appeared in his mind, the person who had raised him alone for so many years after his parents had died when he was still just a 3-year-old child, Arthur could only grit his teeth and keep running towards the shop desperately.
There was no way he could leave his grandfather by himself!
10 minutes later, Leonard and Arthur both stopped running as they arrived in front of a familiar 3-story building.
Leonard heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that his house was still intact, as he could clearly see that some of the surrounding buildings had actually collapsed while both he and Arthur could clearly smell the scent of blood that lingered in the air.
Having seen this scene more than once, he knew that he and Arthur were extremely lucky that they weren't spotted by any of those purple monsters on the way here.
''Leonard, I need to return home too.''
Leonard's relieved expression instantly changed when he heard Arthur's words, as he suddenly remembered that Arthur still had his grandfather back home.
Although his own home was still alright, there was no guarantee that Arthur's home would be the same.
Nodding his head, Leonard took a deep breath and placed both of his hands on Arthur's shoulders before he said solemnly
''Brother... please stay safe!''
Arthur nodded his head with a serious look on his face, before he started to run through the business district without any hesitation, heading straight towards his home.
A few minutes later, after seeing the familiar signboard with the words 'Old Luke's food' above a certain 2-story building, Arthur felt his heart that was about to jump out of his chest during this whole time finally starting to calm down.
Since their house wasn't destroyed, it was likely that his grandfather was still alright as well.
After stepping inside the building and locking the door, Arthur didn't even take a look at the first floor which was his grandfather's food shop, as he headed straight for the second floor.
The second floor only had 2 rooms, a bathroom, and a closet that had a few cleaning supplies and some basic necessities stored.
The first room of this floor belonged to his grandfather while the second room naturally belonged to Arthur.
''Grandpa, are you okay?''
Arthur's voice echoed throughout the house as he shouted loudly from the top of his lungs before he headed straight for his grandfather's room.
''Arthur!''
A moment later, Arthur heard his grandfather's panicked voice coming from his room, before the door of the room hurriedly opened and the figure of a panicked old man appeared in front of him.
Arthur then saw his grandfather pulling him inside the room with a pale look on his face, that seemed to have just regained some of its rosiness upon seeing him, before he locked the door and said in a relieved voice
''Thank god you are still alright.''
BOOOOOOOOM!!
Before Arthur even had enough time to respond to his grandfather's words, he suddenly felt the earth below his feet as it violently shook, causing the entire 2-story building to shake along with it.
Arthur's eyes instantly widened as he and his grandfather both looked through the window of the room at the same time, only to see that the house right next to theirs seemed to have suddenly collapsed!
No, it hadn't collapsed by itself!
A 4 meter(13ft) tall alien that was clad in black armor was standing on top of the already destroyed house, while his right hand was clutching the neck of a middle-aged woman whose entire body was covered in blood, completely taking her ability to even breathe.
The woman had a look of horror painted on her pale face as her hands flailed weakly, continuously striking the purple arm that was clutching her neck tightly, trying to open up the alien's grip.
Alas, Arthur noticed that the woman failed no matter how hard she tried to resist, as the gigantic alien that was more than twice her size simply stared at her with a cruel, bloodthirsty look in its cruel eyes, watching as the woman's attempts were slowly weakening with every passing second.
''Sonya!''
Arthur heard his grandfather calling out the name of the middle-aged woman in a low voice, as they could both see that her life was slowly slipping away from her hands.
''Kekeke!''
However, before anyone could even process what had happened, the alien suddenly smiled cruelly, revealing rows upon rows of sharp teeth as he opened his mouth, before he suddenly clutched his right hand tightly.
The middle-aged woman's head exploded along with the entire upper half of her body, causing Arthur to stumble back upon witnessing this terrifying scene.
Old Luke's feet however seemed like they could no longer support him, as Arthur saw his grandfather collapsing on the floor with a thud.
''Grandpa! Wake up!''
Seeing that his grandfather was about to lose consciousness from the shock he had just received, Arthur ran towards him and supported him as he moved him towards the edge of the bed.
''Son, don't worry, I am still alright!''
Old Luke said a few moments later as he tried to sit up from the bed, but it was obvious that he was still shaken after witnessing that shocking scene. Seeing someone you have known for many years suddenly get killed by an unknown, bloodthirsty monster with a cruel smile on its face, wasn't something that a person could accept so easily.
After killing the middle-aged woman named Sonya, the black-armored alien didn't even glance at Arthur's house, as its eyes spotted a few pedestrians that were trying to run away from it.
Licking its lips the alien immediately chased after them, causing screams of terror to once again resound throughout the business district.
''What the hell is going on?''
This was the same question that was not just in Arthur's and old Luke's minds, but in the mind of every single person throughout the entire world.
In the next 18 hours, every single person on the planet either stayed holed up inside their own homes, or if they were outside, they tried to look for a place to hide from the aliens.
Aside from the sound of the TVs, or the phones and the computers that were broadcasting livestreams from the disasters that were taking place all around the world, there was no other sound in the people's houses.
Whether it was the destroyed buildings, the aliens that were roaming on the streets, or the unknown number of corpses that were lying everywhere on the streets, everyone watched those scenes on their screens with bated breaths.
Staring at the phone in his hands, Arthur saw that the livestream he was watching suddenly change, as it showed a beautiful woman who often appeared on the news instead.
Arthur noticed that it wasn't just his own phone, as the channel that old Luke was watching on the TV seemed to be showing the same scene as well.
The beautiful reporter however had obviously lost her usual calmness and grace, and despite trying hard to show a professional smile, she was unable to hide the hints of dread and horror that were still present in her eyes, as she bowed to the camera and spoke a few moments later
''Ladies and gentlemen, I have been informed that the government has an urgent announcement to make.''
The scene on the livestream then switched, from the beautiful woman in the blue dress to a middle-aged man who was wearing a white shirt with a blue tie, sitting behind his desk.
The words 'Minister of Foreign affairs' appeared at the bottom of the screen, instantly verifying the man's identity for those who didn't know him.
Arthur raised his eyebrows slightly as he watched the scene on his phone without saying anything.
The middle-aged took a deep breath and straightened his white shirt that was drenched in his own sweat, before he turned his attention towards the camera in front of him and said with a grave look in his eyes.
''Ladies and gentlemen, I am sure that you have all seen the scenes taking place throughout the entire world, and perhaps some of you have even experienced it first hand.
Indeed... earth has been invaded!
I wish I could say that those tragedies that you all saw on your screens never actually happened, or that everything will be fine... but unfortunately, I can't do that.
The reason I can't... is because we've lost.''
The middle-aged man's words were akin to a bomb that exploded in everyone's minds, as many people were having trouble comprehending what they had just heard.
Lost? What did that mean?
No. Everyone could guess what these words meant, but nobody wanted to accept them.
The minister of foreign affairs seemed completely oblivious to the people's reaction, as he took a deep breath to calm himself down before he continued.
And yet, nobody had expected that the next words that were about to come out from the middle-aged man's mouth would force their lives to change in a way that they had never imagined before.
